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3 Admit Guilt In Tourist Robberies Near Game Reserve

June 20, 1999|By From Tribune News Services.

NAROK, KENYA — Three Kenyan men admitted in court Saturday that they were responsible for a series of recent robberies, including one involving a group of American tourists, on the outskirts of the Masai Mara game reserve.

The three Masai men were arrested Friday near the Kenya-Tanzania border and charged with committing armed robbery with violence. They were to appear in court again Monday.

On Thursday, 24 Americans traveling in four vans were robbed about 30 miles outside the reserve, southwest of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the Kenyan Tourism Federation said. No one was injured.

The men also admitted to robbing six tourists from Australia, Canada and Israel inside the reserve last month.

"On behalf of the tourism industry, I would like to congratulate the security services," said Jan Mohammed, the federation's chairman.